Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex fell by over 69 points in opening trade on Monday on a fresh sell-off by foreign funds and retail investors, taking cues from weak global markets.
The 30-share barometer, which had lost over 232 points in the previous two sessions, added another by 69 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 18,307.42 in the first few minutes of trade today.
Stocks of realty, auto, power, tech, IT and metals companies suffered the most on the fresh sell-off.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index slid by 22.70 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 5,494.05.
Market experts said the trading sentiment turned bearish amid a subdued trend on global markets following weak US economic data.
In the Asian region, Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index was trading 1.31 per cent lower and Japan`s Nikkei shed 0.84 per cent this morning. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.79 per cent lower in Friday trade.